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Foreigners Pull $35 Bill. off Market
Foreign investors have taken about $35 billion off the Russian stock market since the beginning of the war in South Ossetia, according to the calculations of the French bank Paribas. UniCredit’s count came to $23 billion, and Trust Bank estimated $15-20 billion. The Russian stock market is heavily affected by overseas demand for its stocks. The RTS and MICEX index have both fallen sharply, reaching two-year lows last Friday at levels almost half that of their historical highs.
The war also undermined the ruble. The cost of the currency basket (55 percent dollars and 45 percent euros) is already more than 30.37 rubles, and the Russian currency’s downward trend continues. The Central Ban of Russia has been forced to sell currency from its international reserves to guarantee the supply of rubles on the market. The reserves fell almost $9 billion last week alone.
Bloomberg noted that the ruble is losing value not only because of the war, but because of falling prices worldwide. The Financial Times of London recently laid the blame for the deteriorating economic situation in the country on Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin, who, it said, was not prepared for the economic changes.
www.kommersant.com
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